1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming a center-filled confectionary rope. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for extruding a soft candy mass into the center of a second candy mass, while simultaneously forming the second candy mass into a cylindrical shape.
2. The Background of the Invention
Confectionary products are available in a variety of flavors, configurations, sizes, textures, and combinations. In recent years, confectionary products having an outer layer of one flavor or type in combination with an inner layer of a second floor or type of confection have gained popularity. For example, many companies market a chewing gum which has been injected with a sweet liquid or a soft center portion which is heavily flavored. As one chews the gum, the flavor-rich interior is released thereby providig a burst of flavor.
This same concept has been used successfully with various types of candies. Hard candy exteriors are provided with liquid interiors, soft candy interiors, or hard candy interiors of a second flavor. Additionally, similar types of candy interiors have been used successfully as center fills for flavored gum, hard candy, or soft candy, such as carmel. Thus, a wide variety of combinations of confectionary products are available which have as their basic configuration a solid exterior portion with a second portion forming a center.
Candies having a soft center are particularly well-liked. Soft centers can be covered, for example, with a gum, a hard candy, or a soft exterior. The exterior may be the same flavor as the soft center, or it may be given a second flavor, compatible with the flavor of the soft center.
Confectionary products of this nature can be made by hand by forming a long, rectangularly shaped layer to be used as the exterior. The center is then placed within the rectangularly shapeed exterior in a longitudinal direction. The rectangularly shaped exterior layer is then wrapped around the center to form a center-filled confectionary "rope". The rope may then be cut into several small pieces to form individual candies, or it may be stretched and folded back onto itself several times to form a layered structure.
Although making center-filled candies by hand, as described above, is a popular hobby, making candy by hand is an inadequate method of production when large quantities of candies are needed.
When the candy is to be sold commercially, the market generally cannot easily absorb the high labor costs involved in making confectionary products by hand. As a result, candy makers have attempted to develop equipment to minimize the use of hand formation techniques in manufacturing center-filled confections. However, the manufacturing of center-filled confectionary products in a factory, using equipment which continuously manufactures such a product, gives rise to several problems not encountered under the controlled conditions available when making candy by hand.
When making candy by hand, one "batch" of candy passes through the various steps which make up the manufacturing process one step at a time. After one step is completed, the entire batch moves on to the next step. Thus, careful and continuous monitoring of the candy is possible at all times during the manufacturing process.
When making candy in a factory, it is generally preferred to utilize a continuous manufacturing process whereby the candy is made according to an assembly-line procedure. Thus, monitoring of individual batches of candy is not possible. The methods utilized in the production process must reliably produce a product of consistent quality.
Manufacturing a center-filled candy which has a soft center presents additional considerations. Because the center is soft, it can be difficult to control during the manufacturing process. Unlike a hard center, which may be formed into a specific shape and then coated with the desired exterior, a soft center is floppy and does not present a supportive structure for the exterior. For this same reason, it can also be extremely difficult to mechanically place the soft center within the exterior confection. Thus, some candy makers accomplish this step manually, while forming the remainder of the product mechanically.
One known method which is used to form a confectionary outer layer suitable for use with a soft center is to first form the outer confection into a continuous generally rectangular sheet. This continuous rectangular sheet is then passed over a folding device which causes the continuous rectangular sheet to fold over itself and take a hollow cylindrical geometry.
This "fold-over" method for making a candy exterior has been used successfully in making a center-filled candy when the center has a consistency which is also capable of being formed into a continuous rectangular sheet. Such a center-filled candy is made by placing the continuous rectangular sheet of the exterior on top of the continuous rectangular sheet which is to become the center. The combination is then passed through a folding apparatus. The apparatus causes the combination sheet to fold over itself to produce a continuous confectionary rope. With this process, one continuous rectangular sheet forms the cylindrically-shaped exterior of the rope and the second continuous rectangular sheet forms the center.
A process for making a center-filled confectionary rope as described above, however, will not work effectively for producing a candy rope with a center of soft candy which is of such a consistency that it does not lend itself well to being formed into a continuous rectangular sheet. Also, even if the soft center material could initially be coated onto the continuous rectangular sheet which forms the exterior, these same difficulties will arise if it will not maintain its position during the "fold-over" process.
The present invention overcomes the problems experienced in the art. The present invention utilizes the fold-over process described above to form the exterior portion of the candy, together with novel methods and apparatus for placing the soft center material in place.
It will be appreciated, therefore, that what is needed in the art are methods and apparatus for forming a center-filled confectionary product which has a soft candy center. It would also be an enhancement in the art if such methods and apparatus would enable such a center-filled confectionary product to be manufactured continuously, thereby enabling the methods and apparatus of the present invention to be used in combination with the equipment utilized in modern candy manufacturing facilities. It would be further advancement in the art if such methods and apparatus could produce a center-filled confectionary product having a quality comparable or superior to the quality of similar confectionary products made by hand. It would be an additional enhancement in the art if such methods and apparatus would produce a center-filled confectionary product more economically than those methods and apparatus presently utilized by the prior art.
Such methods and apparatus are disclosed and claimed herein.